Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1887-06-11

LORD, wnat ngntr" ne evacuated again.
"Why, Jess, where have you beeni Capt.
Mel has gone out TO look for you with the
Kaffirs."
II have been sketching in Leuw Kloof, and
got caught in the storm. There, uncle, let
me pass, want to get these wet things off.
1t is a bitter night" and off she ran to her
room, leaving long trail of water behind
her as she passed. The old man entered the
house, shut the door and blew out the Ian
tern.
"Now, what is it she reminds me Off he
said aloud, as he groped his way down the
passage to the sitting room. "Ah, know,
that night when she first came here out of the
rain leading Bessie by the hand What can
the girl have been thinking Of, not to see the
thunder coming upf She ought to know the
signs Of the weather here by now. Dreaming,
l suppose, dreaming. She's an odd woman,
jess, very. Perhaps he did not quite know
how accurate his guess was and how true
the conclusion he drew from it. Certainly
she had been dreaming, and she was an odd
woman.
Meanwhile Jess was rapidly changing her
clothes and removing the traces of her strug-
gle with the elementa But Of that other
struggle that she had gone through she could
not remove the traces. They and the love
that arose from it would endure as long as
she endured. It was her former self that had
been cast off In 1t and that now lay behind
her, an empty and meaningless thing like the
shapeless pile Of garments. 1t was all very
strange. So he had gone to look for her, and
had not found her. She was glad that he
bad gone. It made her happy to think of
apI TIT and tl,o
night She was only a woman, and 1t was
natural that she should feel thus By and by
be would come back and find her clothed and
in her right mind and ready to greet him.
She was glad that he had not seen her, wet,
disheveiled, and shapeless. A woman looks
so unpleasant like that. 1t might have turned
him against her. Men like women to look
nice and clean and pretty. They gave her an
idea. She turned to her glass and, holding
the light above her head studied her own face
attentively In it. She was a woman with as
little vanity In her composition as 1t is possible
for a woman TO have, and she had not till now
given her personal looks much consideration
They had not been of great Importance to her
in the Wakkerstroom district of the Trans
vaaL But now all Of a sudden they became
very important; and so she stood and looked
at her own wonderful eyes, at the masses Of
curling brown hair still damp and shining
from the rain, at the curious pallid face and
the clear cut determined mouth.
"If it were not for my eyes and hair
should be very ugly" she said to herself
aloud. "If only were beautiful like Bessie,
now" The thought of her sister gave her an
other idea What IL he were to prefer Bes-
siei Now she thought Of it, he had been very
attentive to Bessie. A feeling of dreadful
doubt and jealousy passed through her, for
women like jess know what jealousy is in its
pain. Supposing that it was all in vain, sup
posing that what she had to-day given--given
with both hands once and for all, SO that she
could not take it back, had been given to q
man who loved another woman, and that
woman her own dear sisteri Supposing that
the fate of her love was to be like water fall
ing unalteringly on the hard rock that heeds
it not and retains it not. True, the water
wears the rock away; but could she be salts
fed with thati She could master him, she
knew; even il things were SO, she could win
him to herself, she had read IL in his eyes
that afternoon; but could she, who had
promised her dead mother to cherish and pro-
tect her sister, whom till this afternoon she
had loved better than anything in the world,
and whom she still loved more dearly than
her life--could she, IL it should happen to be
thus, rob that sister Of her lovera And If it
should be so what would her life be hkes It
would be like great pillar after the light
ming had smitten it, a pile of scattered, smok-
ing fragments, a very heaped up debris Of
life She could feel it even now. No wonder
she sat there upon the little white bed holding
her hand against her heart and feeling terri
bly, afraid.
Just then she heard Johns footstep in the
hall
u can't find her, he said, In an anxious
tone to some one as she rose, taking her
candle with her, and left the room. The light
from the candle fell upon his face and drip
ping clothes. 1t was white and anxious, and
she was glad to see the anxiety.
"Oh, thank Godl here you arer he said.
catching her hand. IL began to think you
were quite lost. have been right down the
Kloof after you, and got nasty fall over it :"
at is very good of you," she said, in low
voice, and again their eyes met, and again
the glance thrilled him. There was such q
wonderful light In Jess eyes that night
Half an hour afterward they sat down as
usual to supper. Bessie did not put in an ap-
pearance till 1t was quarter over, and then
sat very silent through it. jess narrated her
adventure in the Kloof, and everybody
listened, but nobody said much. There was q
sort of shadow over the house that evening,
or perhaps it was that each Of the party was
thinking Of his own affairs After supper old
Silas Croft began talking about the political
state Of the country, which gave him uneasi-
ness. He said that he believed the Beers
really meant to rebel against the government
this time. Frank Muller had told him 30, and
he always knew what was going on. This
announcement did not tend to raise any
body's spirits, and the evening passed as
silently as the meal had done. At last Bessie
got up, stretched her rounded arms, and said
that she was tired and going to bed.
"Come into my room" she whispered to her
sister a. she passed. II want to speak to you.
CHAPTER VII.